Does Your Extended Warranty Cover A Blown Engine?

Oh boy – this is one situation you never want to be in. A blown engine is about as bad as you can get for a catastrophic repair bill, not to mention the potential risk of damage to your car and to your person.

With a repair like that, it can seem like there’s no silver lining, especially for your pocketbook that has to absorb the cost.

Fortunately, if you have any type of extended warranty, your engine is almost certainly covered by your extended warranty, and if you’ve taken good care of your car and just had some rotten luck with your engine, your extended warranty will probably come to save the day.

The one thing to keep in mind is there’s no one main component for engine failure. If a non-covered component fails and then causes the engine to blow, your engine won’t be covered.

However, in our experience, this is a small minority of cases, usually caused by neglecting to keep your engine well maintained, according to your manufacturer’s maintenance schedule.

Coverage For Your Engine Is Standard With Almost All Warranty Plans

The backbone for nearly all non-specialized extended warranty plans is your car’s powertrain which comprises the engine, the transmission, and the drivetrain itself.

What does tend to vary are the parts of the engine that are covered – and this will depend on what level of coverage, as well as what warranty you have. To make this a little bit easier on you, let’s review the different types of warranties, as well as some specific plans to see what’s covered.

Manufacturer Warranty

There are two types of manufacturer warranty: the initial, most comprehensive bumper-to-bumper coverage that insures you against all material defects in manufacturing, usually for a period of around 3 years, 36,000 miles, although there are manufacturers like Hyundai that give you a 5 year, 60,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty.

If you have a new car and your engine blows up – there’s almost no scenario where your engine won’t be 100% covered by the manufacturer warranty.

The second type of warranty is a post-purchase extended warranty that covers your car after the initial manufacturer’s bumper to bumper warranty expires. This can be an extension of that same coverage (which some additional exclusions, usually), or it can be something more basic like powertrain coverage, which again, will still cover your engine depending on what the cause is.

Manufacturer warranties tend to be more forgiving than 3^rd party companies not named Protect My Car, so you’ll likely have more leeway with your manufacturer’s warranty to get your engine repaired if you happened to -ahem- “forget” to change your oil.

3^rd Party Extended Warranty

The other type of extended warranty isn’t a warranty in the same sense as your manufacturer’s warranty. While a manufacturer warranty is a promise against material defects in workmanship, any 3^rd party company including Protect My Car is selling you a vehicle service contract, which is essentially a promise to pay for your repairs if you do certain things that you’re contractually obligated to do.

In regards to your engine, this means changing your oil regularly, as well as having routine service work done.

Even though this is a minor distinction, it makes a difference as some 3^rd party companies will try to avoid paying your claim if you don’t follow their contract to the letter.

Doom and gloom aside: every extended warranty provider and plan we looked at for this article includes engine coverage. What components are covered though, varies. To make this easier, we’re going to compare the 4 largest vehicle service contract companies across their most basic and most premium coverage so you can see what’s covered.

 Protect My Car

Direct Contract Provider: Yes

Basic Coverage Plan: Driveline

Engine Components Covered: Cylinder Block, Cylinder Head(s) and all internal lubricated parts contained within the engine including Pistons, Piston Rings, Crankshaft, Crankshaft Main Bearings, Camshaft, Camshaft Bearings, Cam Followers, Timing Chain/Belt, Timing Gears, Guides, Timing Chain Tensioner, Timing Cover, Rocker Arms, Rocker Shafts, Push Rods, Oil Pump, Oil Pump Housing, Harmonic Balancer, Engine Mounts, Balance Shaft, Balance Shaft Bearing, and Vacuum Pump.

Premium Coverage Plan: Supreme

Engine Components Covered: Cylinder Block, Cylinder Head(s) and all internal lubricated parts contained within the engine including Pistons, Piston Rings, Connecting Rods, Crankshaft, Crankshaft Main Bearings, Camshaft, Camshaft Bearings, Cam Followers, Lifters, Timing Chain/Belt, Timing Chain Cover, Timing Gears, Guides, Timing Chain Tensioner, Rocker Arms, Push Rods, Oil Pump, Oil Pump Housing, Harmonic Balancer, Engine Mounts, Connecting Rods, Balance Shaft, Balance Shaft Bearing, and Vacuum Pump.

Notes: Our Driveline and Supreme cover virtually all the same parts of the engine, with there only being minor differences between the two for connecting rods, lifters, and a few other small parts.

Endurance Warranty

Direct Contract Provider: Yes

Basic Coverage Plan: Secure

Engine Components Covered: Cylinder Block, Cylinder Head(s), Rotary Housing and All Internally Lubricated Parts contained within the engine including Pistons; Piston Rings; Connecting Rod Bearings; Crankshaft; Crankshaft Main Bearings; Camshaft; Camshaft Bearings; Cam Followers; Timing Chain or Belt; Timing Gears, Guides, Tensioners; Rocker Arms; Rocker Shafts; Rocker Bushings; Cylinder Head Valves; Valve Guides; Valve Lifters; Valve Springs; Valve Seals; Valve Retainers; Valve Seats; Push Rods; Water Pump; Fuel Pump; Oil Pump and Oil Pump Housing; Harmonic Balancer; Oil Pan; Timing Chain Cover; Intake and Exhaust Manifolds.

Premium Coverage Plan: Supreme

Engine Components Covered: Cylinder Block, Cylinder Head(s), Rotary Housing and All Internally Lubricated Parts contained within the engine including Pistons; Piston Rings; Connecting Rod Bearings; Crankshaft; Crankshaft Main Bearings; Camshaft; Camshaft Bearings; Cam Followers; Timing Chain or Belt; Timing Gears, Guides, Tensioners; Rocker Arms; Rocker Shafts; Rocker Bushings; Cylinder Head Valves; Valve Guides; Valve Lifters; Valve Springs; Valve Seals; Valve Retainers; Valve Seats; Push Rods; Water Pump; Fuel Pump; Oil Pump and Oil Pump Housing; Harmonic Balancer; Oil Pan; Timing Chain Cover; Intake and Exhaust Manifolds; Valve Covers; Engine Mounts;. (The oil pan and valve covers are only covered if damaged by the Breakdown of a Covered Part).

Notes: Similar to our coverage, the difference between the basic and premium option in the engine doesn’t change very much.

Car Shield

Direct Contract Provider: No

Basic Coverage Plan: American Auto Shield Power Train

Engine Components Covered: All internally lubricated parts within the engine including engine mounts and timing belt. Electronic components, regardless of location are not covered. The engine block and heads are only covered if the damage is caused by a FAILURE of any internally lubricated part within the Engine.

Premium Coverage Plan: American Auto Shield Comprehensive

Engine Components Covered: All internally lubricated parts within the Engine including engine mounts and cushions, engine torque strut, timing belt, timing gears, guides, chain, tensioners and retainers, eccentric shaft, engine torque strut, harmonic balancer, rear main seal housing, flywheel (flexplate) and flywheel ring gear, all pulleys, intake and exhaust manifolds, cylinder head intake and exhaust valves, valve springs, valve guides, valve seals and oil pump. The engine block, engine heads, cylinder barrels timing cover, valve cover(s) oil pan are covered ONLY if the damage is caused by a failure of any internally lubricated part within the engine.

Notes: Car Shield is a non-direct provider and instead sells policies administrated by American Auto Shield. American Auto Shield is notable here for the difference in coverage between their basic powertrain and more comprehensive coverage – where the basic policies don’t cover engine electronics of any kind.

Carchex

Direct Contract Provider: No

Basic Coverage Plan: CARCHEX Care By Royal Bronze

Engine Components Covered: All internally lubricated parts, including pistons, pins, rings, connecting rods and bearings, crankshaft and main bearings, camshaft, followers and cam bearings. Pushrods, valves, springs, guides, seats, lifters, rocker arms, shafts, bushings, core plugs, timing gear, timing chain or timing belt, belt tensioners, and retainers. Eccentric shaft, oil pump, oil cooler, and oil cooler lines. Engine block and cylinder head(s) are covered only if the BREAKDOWN occurred due to the failure of an internally lubricated part. Also covered are the following: water pump, fuel pump, oil pan, intake and exhaust manifolds, engine mounts and cushions, engine torque strut, timing cover, valve cover(s), harmonic balancer, flywheel (flexplate) and flywheel ring gear, vacuum pump, dipstick and tube, all pulleys, and all internally lubricated parts of the turbocharger/supercharger, including wastegate, vanes, shafts, and bearings. The turbocharger/supercharger housing is covered only if damaged by the failure of an internally lubricated part. Hybrid and Electric VEHICLE Components: Main or Primary drive electric

Premium Coverage Plan: CARCHEX Care By Royal Titanium

Engine Components Covered: All internally lubricated parts, including pistons, pins, rings, connecting rods and bearings, crankshaft and main bearings, camshaft, followers and cam bearings. Pushrods, valves, springs, guides, seats, lifters, rocker arms, shafts, bushings, core plugs, timing gear, timing chain or timing belt, belt tensioners, and retainers. Eccentric shaft, oil pump, oil cooler, and oil cooler lines. Engine block and cylinder head(s) are covered only if the BREAKDOWN occurred due to the failure of an internally lubricated part. Also covered are the following: water pump, fuel pump, oil pan, intake and exhaust manifolds, engine mounts and cushions, engine torque strut, timing cover, valve cover(s), harmonic balancer, flywheel (flexplate) and flywheel ring gear, vacuum pump, dipstick and tube, all pulleys, and all internally lubricated parts of the turbocharger/supercharger, including wastegate, vanes, shafts, and bearings. The turbocharger/supercharger housing is covered only if damaged by the failure of an internally lubricated part. Hybrid and Electric VEHICLE Components: Main or Primary drive electric. It also includes coverage for a number of electronic parts including the starter and solenoid not listed here.

Notes: The only difference between the plans is the additional coverage for major electrical parts including the starter, solenoid, and control modules.

What Is A Direct Warranty Provider?

So you’re probably wondering what the direct warranty provider bit is above. It’s an important distinction that is worth talking about.

A direct warranty provider is a warranty company that administrates and services its own claims, legally speaking. What that means, is when a direct warranty provider sells you an extended warranty, they are responsible for paying your claims, as well as handling any customer service issues that arise.

Direct providers can offer lower prices for their plans and better customer service because everything is handled in house. 

Currently, only Protect My Car and Endurance are direct warranty providers.

Other extended warranty companies aren’t selling their own plans.  When you buy a policy with them, they then transfer the responsibility for your future claims to a 3^rd party finance company. They get paid, and then that finance company that you didn’t choose becomes the legal entity responsible for paying your claims.

This can be a huge hassle. Claims take longer to get paid, and we’ve seen prices that are more expensive.

That’s not to mention that the 3^rd party finance company has no connection to you as a human being and has every financial incentive to pay as little as possible on your claim.

With over 13 years in this business, everyone will tell you that choosing a direct warranty provider is the best way to go. You’ll avoid getting a run around from claims agents, and instead will get help from a real person who wants to see you off smiling.

Want To Get The Best Value On An Extended Warranty For Your Engine? Protect My Car Can Help

While your engine and almost all of its components are covered with just about any extended warranty, Protect My Car is far from “any” extended warranty company.

Our lowest-cost plan, the Driveline covers more than the basic powertrain coverage you’ll get from other extended warranty companies, including your air conditioning, and important bits like your alternator, windshield washer pump, and starter that are only covered by our competitor’s more premium plans.

Best of all, we’re able to do this at a lower price than our competitors because we’re a direct warranty provider. Of course, this coverage also comes with roadside assistance including towing if you find yourself on the side of the road with a blown engine.

As a proud direct warranty provider, you’ll never be mistreated when you join us. There’s a reason our average review score (TrustPilot, Consumer Affairs, BBB) is a 4.3/5.0, and I want you to find out why.

We know there are a number of other great extended warranty companies out there, we know we’re the best and we want to prove it to you.

That’s why, for a limited time, we’re giving away $50 dollars in rewards just for getting a quote with us. From there, you’ll be able to shop all of our different plans, online, with no phone call needed. You can even buy the driveline in less than 5 minutes and have your engine covered and ready to go.

Because we’re a direct warranty provider, you may find that our plans are significantly cheaper than what you’re paying right now.

So don’t wait, get your free quote today and claim your $50 dollars in free rewards.